Using HUMOR to
fund medical research

Cartoons are available on our YouTube channel.

While neuropathy is no laughing matter, it does help, from time to time, to take a break from one’s worries and symptoms and consider a lighter aspect of neuropathy.

We strive to provide a way for those directly or indirectly affected by neuropathy to briefly get a “mental breather.”

Two interconnected neurons are illustrated, showcasing their branched structures and cell bodies. This image highlights neural connections in the nervous system.
Neuropathy, for purposes of this website, refers to peripheral neuropathy, which is a disease in which peripheral nerves have been damaged. Damage can be caused by diabetes, toxins (e.g., chemotherapy, some medications, and industrial chemicals), nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune diseases, certain types of cancer, some infections, physical trauma, and/or mutated genes (“pathogenic genetic variants”). The damaged nerves may be sensory (resulting in symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, or burning), and/or motor (resulting in weakness, cramps, or muscle wasting).

At present, peripheral neuropathy affects roughly 7% of the USA’s general population (about 24 million people). The frequency for older adults is about 10-26%. Idiopathic cases (those with no identifiable cause) have a frequency of 25-46% and this proportion grows with age. We use our cartoons not only to provide a mental breather but also to help those affected by neuropathy to realize that they are not alone.

In so doing, we hope individuals affected by neuropathy will be motivated to advocate for themselves and soldier on in their quest to identify the disease underlying their symptoms. If the disease is known, we hope to motivate them to find an effective treatment or cure.

The cartoons are FREE to enjoy and print for personal use. (Sorry, they are not available for commercial use.) You can access them by clicking on the YouTube link, and share them with family, friends, and/or doctors to help raise awareness of the disease and the specific challenges affected individuals face. We do ask that you DONATE if you are able. By donating, you are helping to support medical research relating to the causes of and treatments for neuropathy. 

Latest Posts

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May 11, 2026

Rare Disease Stats & Rare Disease Research: Universal Impact on Medicine

BY THE NUMBERS CategoryKey StatisticsTotal number of rare diseases10,000+Americans affected by rare diseases25–30 million (1 in 10 people)Percent of rare diseases that are genetic~80%Rare diseases that cause peripheral neuropathy~100–150Types of rare diseases that cause neuropathyGenetic, autoimmune, metabolic, mitochondrial, paraneoplastic, infectious, toxic exposure Rare research. Universal impact. Peripheral neuropathy is a generic syndrome that may be caused by a few common diseases (e.g., diabetes) and/or by many different types of rare diseases (e.g., pathogenic gene variants). Rare diseases act as precision windows into human biology: when a single gene or pathway is disrupted in a small patient population, it reveals mechanisms that are shared across many common conditions. Breakthroughs in rare disorders routinely ripple outward. The recent FDA-approved therapy for SORD deficiency, for example, emerged from studying a tiny group of patients with a rare neuropathy—yet the same metabolic pathway is now being explored as a treatment target for forms of…

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DNA Sequencing Options

If your doctor(s) have already ruled out many of the potential non-genetic causes of your peripheral neuropathy, and you are now immersed in the…

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Neuropathy may be Caused by Genetic Disorders

There are neuropathy diseases caused by underlying genetic disorders that have been identified, and for which a treatment is currently…

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Neurontoons is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (tax ID #39-5005290) dedicated to funding medical research.